Lots of green, little buyer interest

Motor Mouth

Chevy's Volt reduces range anxiety, but at a high price.Dan Janisse/Windsor Star

DETROIT • You have to wonder where this green revolution is. It has to be out there somewhere. After all, the media is reporting it’s burgeoning, the tree huggers are proselytizing an uprising and the automakers are marketing environmentalism with an incredible fervour. But actually finding said revolution? That’s proving elusive.

The most recent U.S. automobile sales number are in and, in top place among all light vehicles, the best-seller is — it’s no surprise as it’s still the perennial leader — Ford’s F-Series. What you might find surprising is that sales of the big pickup grew by a whopping 27.7% last year. Ditto for Chevy’s Silverado almost-as-whopping 16.9% uptick. Toyota’s environment-loving Prius? Well, it’s stuck way down in 15th spot and sales increased but a paltry 0.9 % over a dismal 2009.

But, wait, the news gets worse. The Prius is the only “green” vehicle that made the list (heck, even the lowly Jeep Grand Cherokee made it, increasing its volume by a humungous 68.2% thanks to its recent redesign). Indeed, since the Prius entails the lion’s share of hybrid sales in North America (Honda’s hybrids seem so anchored to their dealers’ lots that one has to wonder if their tires are cemented right into their parking spaces), it means that hybrid sales as a percentage of total vehicles sales declined in 2010.

Yet, here on the floor of the North American International Auto Show, the “revolution” continues, seemingly unconcerned that no one outside the hallowed doors of Detroit’s Cobo Hall gives a damn.

Toyota is, for instance, launching an entire line of Prius-branded products. You can’t blame it; the Prius, despite its recent tepid sales, is the one shining success of the green revolution. But one can’t help but wonder how much of its popularity rests in its actual ability to reduce emissions and how much is just

Meanwhile, over in the Lexus booth, the message is “the darker side of green” — only that darker side is a CT200h runabout that boasts 134 horsepower and a zero-to-100-kilometres acceleration time that barely beats 10 seconds. And its U.S. price tag of $29,120 suggests a Canadian price well north of 30-large.

Though it is launching a new 6 Series convertible and a 1 Series M Coupe (yeah!), BMW’s show booth is fronted by a pair of ActiveHybrids (X6 and 7 Series).

Meanwhile, over at the Porsche exhibit, holding centre court is the 918 RSR Hybrid. Never mind that that its flywheel-based Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) is the ideal solution for racing — there is currently no series for the car in which to race. And such flywheel-based systems will never be used on the street, though Porsche has another, battery-based hybrid system in the works for production-based cars.

Then, of course, we have the true believers, such as Tesla proudly displaying CEO Elon Musk’s “We will not stop until every car on the road is electric” proclamation along the walls of its exhibit. Right across the aisle, there’s an outsized (for a mini car at least) display of Smart’s electric car and scooter program. Next door is China’s BYD, with seemingly its entire booth devoted to its Green City Solution and its electric sedans, SUVs and minivans. Meanwhile, back in the real world — at least the North American version of it — 2010 marks the first time in Canadian history that trucks outsold cars — 54% versus 46% — with Ford being particularly blessed with its F-150 selling more than 97,000 units last year.

Meanwhile, over at the General Motors booth, the Chevrolet Volt — the EV that bills itself as “more car than electric — holds centre stage. As much as I admire the technology, one has to wonder exactly many of them GM will be able to flog at US$41,000 a pop. The key display at GM’s cross-town rival Ford is an electric Transit Van scurrying — emissions-free, so it’s safe to do indoors — round a tiny raised oval leading a charge of electric vehicles, plug-ins and hybrids that will see the Blue Oval’s family of electric vehicles rival Toyota’s burgeoning Prius family.

It’s quite a dichotomy. No matter where you look, consumers are eschewing environmentally conscious cars in droves while manufacturers become ever more strident in their marketing of the greenness of their new electric vehicles. Is it because they think the environmental lobby so powerful it will eventually overcome consumer resistance? Or is it, as someone more skeptical might posit (Qui? Moi?) that the environmental lobby is too powerful to tell to go away. Whatever the case, what will car companies do when all the monies they are pumping into these green cars fail to generate sales? How will shareholders react to a company pumping $20-billion into programs for which there are no customers?